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Watch Your Step: Grant Taylor, Mind Field.

http://www.youtube.com/v/d68CB5M0vYI?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999
I’ve put this kid up before and this isn’t the newest video out there, but this kid is such a ripper. So tough.(Did he go through a growth spurt while filming this part?) Either way, sick. Reminds me of getting stoked on Dyrdek and Duane Pitre in G&S “Footage” back in 1990. Check it here. Dinosaur and Workshop, always tough as hell in my book.

The Fall Three: Jou-Yie Chou, The Ace Hotel.

Over the past year or so, Jou-Yie Chou has become a friend and compatriot.
Many evenings have passed in the lobby of The Ace or the bar at The Breslin and more than a few times, with Jou-Yie. He’s partly reason why the Ace has become such a gravitational center in an otherwise nondescript part of town. Build it and they will come seems to have been the ethos and indeed, they have(present company included).
Jou-Yie’s recently returned from a coastal caravan with fellow road-trippers Jay Carroll and photographer Nate Bressler, having set up pop-up outposts in Palm Springs and LA. Currently, he’s on the move again but took some time to indulge my request for what’s got him stoked on Fall. This is Jou-Yie Chou’s Fall Three(and then some).

“Nothing beats fall. The smells, the scenery, the energy that’s back in the city, the practicality of fashion and beauty of sweater weather. It’s a season where I feel unapologetically American & Patriotic. You know it’s fall when the Barbour comes out for the first time. I’m looking forward to many firsts – cider in my Stanley thermos, rocking my red Stormy Cromer, Storm King upstate on the Hudson, raking leaves with the pops, the smell of maple and drunken crab apple fights.

Growing up in CT, the fall season always brought an anticipation of all things. To me this is the beginning of a new year, and a season full of traditions and good times always revolving around best friends new and old and amazing stick to your ribs chowder, braises and crock-pot concoctions before the inevitable first frost. I love an excuse to put on some more winter whale weight; imbibed or chewed.”

Well put pal. Thanks to Jou-Yie for taking part.

Field Report: C’H’C’M’ / Bond st. / NYC.

There’s a pattern emerging. Think UNIONMADE, Wharf, Inventory Stockroom. Good people setting up shop who care about the products they sell. Now add to this list Sweetu Patel’s very recently opened C’H’C’M’ Shop at 2 Bond st.
Having an already well-established, highly regarded online shop for sometime now, Sweetu’s made the leap and landed on Bond. It’s been a labor of love, doing much of the work himself and furnishing the shop with his own pieces, and the effort has paid off. Somewhat hiding in plain sight, it’s located a few steps below street level, a perfectly situated shop space for C’H’C’M’.
I stopped in on Saturday, having missed the opening party(I’m told Four Loko’s were retrieved near the end of the event. Proof HERE). We talked for a while, I was offered a beer while I shot photos. It’s the kind of shop Sweetu’s always wanted to open. A place in which people stop in, chat, share some laughs and maybe buy something. The space is open, white surfaces against exposed brick and mortar of the foundation walls, clean lines, uncluttered and stocked with the same great lines Sweetu’s focused on since C’H’C’M’s inception online.
Gloverall, Mackintosh(the hooded Farndon jacket is a stand out), Sunny Sports, Seil Marschall(the Mont Blanc boots are killer), Valstar, Levi’s, Paraboot, R6 x Six Eight Seven Six, Diemme just to name a few.
It’s been a longtime coming and Sweetu’s had a lot of support along the way, but C’H’C’M’ has the feeling of having been around for a while.
Here’s to it being around for quite a while longer.
Congrats to Sweetu and if you’re in the neighborhood, stop in and welcome C’H’C’M’ to the neighborhood.

C’H’C’M’
2 Bond st.(b/w Broadway & Lafayette)
NYC
#212.673.8601
11am-7pm
Closed Mondays

Shelf Life: My Rugged 211 x Minoru Onozato.

Free & Easy Editor Minoru Onozato has, for over 40 years, searched for, found and collected what has amounted to a vast collection of what he calls rugged style. If you’re at all familiar with Free & Easy, the word rugged recurs quite frequently. Hell, there’s a “museum” in it’s honor. Sparked by a youth spent playing Rugby, Onozato was set on a path, a lifelong pursuit of “unfashionable fashion” and “My Rugged 211”, as he states in the forward, “is a record of this quest”. Here’s an extremely abbreviated look inside. Available at J.Crew.

Moving Pictures: Apolis Vietnam Expedition Film.

In addition to working at the factory day in and day out, factor in two 60’s era Russian made motorcycles, 1,500 miles put on them, eleven break downs, torrential rains, several near death experiences, very nearly having passports confiscated by the military police and you have a trip of a lifetime, many new friends, countless memories and stories to tell. The guys at Apolis have distilled some of that into just under four minutes. Beautifully done fellas.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/16711896

The Map: Read all About It; EXTRA, NYC.

On a recent visit to EXTRA, Koji Kusakabe’s shop just off the Bowery, I had the pleasure of talking a while with Koji about all things vintage.
Koji’s, who now resides in the city, began making vintage buying trips to the US from Japan, back in the early 80’s. American denim had become highly sought after in Japan and few used clothing stores here knew what they had.
California came around first, in the mid-80’s, but Koji told me he could still come to the states and spend most of his time in NYC, grabbing up highly collectible pieces for next to nothing.
Some twenty-five years later, Koji’s opened EXTRA.
If Koji’s not out surfing, you’re buzzed in and it’s a mix of new and old. He’s known Takeshi Ohfuchi for decades, so Post Overalls is there alongside another friend’s line, Engineered Garments(including a small selection from Daiki’s FWK women’s line).
Most all else is vintage, and mostly things other than clothes; task lamps, seating, old hand made blankets, cameras, sculpture and all sorts of other things.
It’s a great shop. Koji is extremely generous with his time and happy to shoot the breeze, especially if you have even a passing interest in vintage Americana. The man is a wealth of knowledge.
If you’re in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by. He’s stocking Issue #3 of Inventory Mag. He’s also got the EG Storm Parka in a Medium, FYI.
EXTRA
10 Extra Place
NYC
(212)677.7465

Apocalypse Tomorrow: Apolis Vietnam Expedition Film Release.

In the name of walking the walk, good buddy Raan Parton of Apolis spent a few weeks last month motorcycling through the cities and country sides of Vietnam. The expedition presented a prime opportunity to field test some of the latest Apolis gear including the super awesome Expedition Duffle, their waxed canvas anorak and the Patagonia for Apolis rain slicker. And if you kept tabs on their travels, you’ll know that the afore mentioned came in quite useful along the way.(See below photo)With cinematographer Dave Christenson along for the ride, the boys documented days and days of what must have been the trip of a life time. And after cutting through hour upon hour of shot footage, they’ve a final edit, a teaser for which you can watch below.
If you’re in the neighborhood, they’ll be previewing the film at American Rag Cie’s Newport Beach location tomorrow(Nov. 9th). And if you make it to the event, give those guys a bear hug for me.
http://player.vimeo.com/video/16181918

Film + Event: Expedition Preview & Nov. 9th Event from Apolis on Vimeo.

The Fall Three: Carl Chiara, Levi Strauss & co.

I always consider it such a pleasure when I get the chance to catch up with Carl Chiara, director of brand concepts and special projects for Levi Strauss & Co. This past week, Carl was in town from San Francisco for Levis‘ SS’11 preview, held at the Levis Workshop in the former Deitch Projects space on Wooster. I met Carl at UNIONMADE opening day. We talked about our shared interests in furniture making and wood working as he hand made many of the fixtures in the shop. A Renaissance man, he’s a good friend to Secret Forts, an always gracious and humble guy and this is Carl Chiara’s Fall Three.

1)The Levi’s X Filson oil cloth trucker….I am so excited about that jacket!

2)I am excited about fresh pair of jeans, something to start new with. I am thinking about the 1950’s 501 or a 1960’s 505…I want something new and a different shape, maybe even a zipper fly…


3)And Goat Rock Beach up here by the cabin. It is always grey and ominous and chilly and Buddy loves a long walk there.

Huge thanks to Carl for taking part. Photo via WSJ.

Revisited: The Rig Out, Issue #2.

While working on getting issue 3 of Oi Polloi‘s(who’ve incidentally just re-launched a super clean, well designed site) Rig Out out, I thought it would be a good chance to revisit the previous issue for those who might not have gotten their hands on it.
Our man Antony Crook and the lads spent some time with a perennial favorite of Secret Forts, Engineered Garments‘ own Daiki Suzuki and Angelo Urrutia, getting a quick Q&A and some nice behind the scenes photos.
Issue 3 will be all sent in the coming days so bare with me. (The response has been huge and I’m a one man operation here.)
Word on the street is that Issue 4 is already in the works as well as a short companion film to the current issue. Stay tuned for more info on that.
Enjoy.